Page 107 - Christie's, NYC Important Chinese Works Of Art Sept. 22-23, 2022

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT NEW YORK COLLECTION
~793
A VERY RARE PAIR OF HUANGHUALI DRUM STOOLS This exceptional pair of stools has a commanding elegance, distinguished by
17TH CENTURY strong curves and the crisp bands of bosses encircling the seat and foot. The
Each mat seat is set in a circular top frame finely carved with rounded bosses subtly rounded form of the stools seen in the outward-curving legs perfectly
above the beaded, cusped apron. The whole is raised on outward-curving, balances the rhythmic undulations of the aprons at the top and the bottom,
beaded legs joined by beaded, cusped aprons and a circular footrail carved and is further emphasized by the fine beading. According to Wang Shixiang
with rounded bosses and supported on small tab feet. in Wang and Evarts, Masterpieces From the Museum of Classical Chinese
Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 40, Beijing craftsman referred
18º in. (46.3 cm.) high, 16Ω in. (41.9 cm.) diam. (2) to this shape created by the gently rounded corners as dongguazhuang
(winter-melon-shaped opening with concave sides). Bands of rounded
$120,000-180,000 bosses add the only decorative element to this nuanced and simple form and
are a reference to the bands of nail heads used on drums to fasten animal
PROVENANCE: skins to the frames. This decorative element is also seen in barrel-form stools
The Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Christie's New York, 19 in cloisonné enamel and porcelain.
September 1996, lot 42.
It is unusual to find a pair of barrel-form stools with mat seats. Barrel-form
LITERATURE:
S. Handler, "The Ubiquitous Stool," JCCFS, Summer 1994, p. 18, fig. 24. stools are commonly seen with hardwood or marble-inset seats, such as a
Wang, et. al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Furniture, p.40, no. 19 related example in hongmu with a marble top illustrated by R. H. Ellsworth, in
(one illustrated). Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, New
York, 1971, p. 97, pl. 90. A variation of this specific design with ovoid body and
bands of bosses, but constructed with rounded stretchers joined by a central
重要紐約私人珍藏 band, is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection
of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
十七世紀 黃花梨四開光坐墩一對
(I), Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 61. (Fig. 1). An almost identical example in walnut is
來源: illustrated in M. Flacks, Classical Chinese Furniture: A Very Personal Point of
中國古典家具博物館, 紐約佳士得, 1996年9月19日, 拍品編號42 View, London, 2011, pp., 100-102.
出版:
莎拉·韓蕙, 《The Ubiquitous Stool》, 《JCCFS》, 1994年夏, 頁18, 插圖編號24 此對黃花梨四開光坐墩造型矯健，弧度精準，鼓釘分明，端莊優雅，清新雋永。四
王世襄等, 《Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Furniture》, 頁40, 根立材用料厚重，外彎綫條流暢，氣韻生動，渾樸自然。上下牙子對稱，開光宛轉美
編號19 (僅刊其一圖). 妙，兩周鼓釘紋規矩並置，有條不紊。按王世襄、柯惕思合撰《明式家具萃珍》，頁
30（英文原著見芝加哥、舊金山，1995年，頁40），此類坐墩牙子「上下垂而下上
凹，轉角圓婉形成北京匠師所謂『冬瓜樁』的開光。」坐墩近乎光素，僅以鼓釘邊飾
點綴，樸實無華，亦有仿古意趣，取古代以釘子把動物皮革蒙在中空木桶的鼓具造
型。同類形制亦見於掐絲琺琅及瓷製坐墩。

坐墩面心多嵌硬木或大理石，設藤編軟屜者傳世極少，更遑論成對。前者包括一
件形制與本品一致的紅木坐墩，面心為大理石，見安思遠：《Chinese Furniture:
Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Qing Dynasties 》，紐約，1971年，
頁97，圖版編號90。另見清宮舊藏一件黃花梨嵌癭木坐墩，同綴兩周鼓釘紋，四
腿間飾仿竹藤製品的弧形圈，《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：明清家具（上）》，香
港，2002年，圖版61。一例外型貌似本品，面心為藤編軟屜，凳框用核桃木，見馬科
斯．弗拉克斯：《中國古典家具私房觀點》，倫敦，2011年，頁100-102。

Fig. 1 Huanghuali
stool, early Qing
dynasty. Palace
Museum, Beijing.
圖一 黃花梨坐墩,
清早期, 北京故宮博
物院藏

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